Blogging About Critters Since 2007

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Swiss Activists Try to Ban Seal Products

I had no idea that Switzerland is NOT part of the EU. Therefore, the EU's ban on seal products does not apply to them. But activists are trying to change that.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Friday, June 17, 2011

PETA to Run Billboards Against the University of Washington's Animal Research

I live in Seattle and, while I don't always agree with PETA, I hate the UW's animal research practices. I don't believe these animals get the quality of care they deserve for the suffering they undergo. If you "humanize" the animal and grow attached, how can you conduct experiments on it? You have to objectify them and they suffer for it.

I'm glad PETA is drawing attention to this issue. On the other hand, I hope that the association of PETA with this issue doesn't backfire. They are so polarizing....

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Support Farm Sanctuary!

Love this group!

Here's a book that you can buy about rescued farm animals and their stories. It should be inspiring and it's a great way to support an extraordinary organization.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Henry Rollins to Host Weird New Show on National Geographic

This sounds to me like it's glorifying the use and misuse of exotic animals. I'm not particularly thrilled about it, even though they are claiming that they are not into encouraging the activities.

Anything for ratings I guess...

Excerpted from Reuters...
Rollins will host "Animal Underworld," which features people who own exotic animals as well as those who eat them. He visits Arizona's Road Kill Cafe, where the menu features not-so-exotic fare. And he meets people who consume things you would not find on the menu even at the Road Kill, like frog smoothies and tarantulas -- the former because it supposedly increases virility and the latter for medicinal purposes.

If "Animal Underworld" sounds a little edgy for the august National Geographic brand -- which has a standards and practices department that vets everything for accuracy -- senior vp Geoff Daniels assures it is in keeping with Nat Geo's mission of exploration and investigation.

"It's really an investigation into our relationship with animals," he says. "It's covering the full range from the off-beat and quirky to the potentially illicit. And our approach to (the latter) is to make sure that we're obviously not encouraging that behavior."

Friday, June 10, 2011

Royal Decree Issued in Spain Over Animal Welfare

Interesting! Effective? Who knows?

Here's an excerpt from Farmers Weekly Interactive....
The Spanish government has taken the unusual step of issuing a royal decree to compel farmers to report on what action they are taking to comply with the 2012 conventional cage-ban and if they require any government assistance.

In the decree the Spanish Government outlines a training and publicity initiatives to promote new methods of production to farmers and the public as well as a timeline to receive and investigate plans for conversion as well as committing €300m in loans for farmers to convert to enriched facilities.

But some industry experts doubt Spain, a nation which has an unemployment rate above 20% and a stagnant economy, can afford to pay out €300m to farmers. Others have suggested that the amount of money allocated would only be enough to assist half the Spanish egg industry to convert.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Apparent Welfare Improvement at British Horse Fair

This excerpt is from Smallholder....
Welfare officers from international animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary have reported an improvement in the welfare of donkeys and other equines at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria, which finished earlier this week.

Staff from The Donkey Sanctuary worked closely with the RSPCA, World Horse Welfare, Redwings Horse Sanctuary and The Blue Cross to promote donkey welfare at Britain’s largest horse fair. The team of three welfare officers, a vet and the charity’s head of welfare checked on the condition of donkeys at the fair and made sure that they had adequate access to food and water. They also spoke with donkey owners, sellers and members of the public, offering information and advice about donkey welfare.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Head of Welfare, Michael Crane, says: “We are pleased to report an improvement in animal welfare at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair. Our welfare officers checked a number of donkeys at the fair and found all of them to be in a reasonable condition with access to hay and water. This is a real step forward from last year when four donkeys in an extremely poor condition were relinquished to The Donkey Sanctuary after being formally signed over to the RSPCA.

Scandal at Los Angeles Animal Shelter

LA Animal Services is the subject of an internal investigation surrounding missing animals. At first, it sounds like employees may have been taking them, but volunteers had access too....

Excerpt from CityWatch...
Brenda Barnette, General Manager of the Animal Services Department, said 64 animals have disappeared from six shelters in roughly a year,” Zanhiser reports. “Of that total, 39 were housed at the city's North Central shelter on Lacy Street — a missing rate considered unusually high.”

“They were the young ones, the cute ones,” Barnette said. "They were ones that would have been likely to have been sold or be a nice gift for someone." The majority of the unaccounted-for animals were dogs, Barnette said.”

At a recent Encino Neighborhood Council meeting Ms. Barnette announced that her LA Animal Services staff has a “few bad apples”—not exactly the public description you expect from a City manager. This week she disclosed that she went to Mayor Villaraigosa and LAPD, plus Human Resources to ask them to help sniff out what happened to 64 animals—mostly dogs—missing from over 68,000 impounded this year at six city shelters.

Ms. Barnette apparently failed to mention that early this year she personally ordered that volunteers are to have keys to the kennels to remove animals at any time. The type of key she made available is reportedly the universal key that provides access to all city facilities and is not marked “Do Not Duplicate.” She also reportedly did not set up a standard procedure for monitoring the issuance and use of the keys.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Pale Male Has New Chicks

I've been following Pale Male (the red-tailed hawk that lives in Central Park) since over 5 years ago when his nest was destroyed by ritzy apartment dwellers and it created a major international outcry. The nest was rebuilt, but Pale Male and his mate Lola never had another successful nesting.

Sadly, Lola disappeared a while ago, but Pale Male has a new mate named Lima. And they have had a successful nesting.

Here is his website with photos updated daily.

Here's a video of the chicks' feeding. Cute!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Vegan Diets Becoming More High Profile

According to this article in the CBC News, they are growing in popularity.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Woman Leads Fight Against Circuses in Portugal

I like this story because I can only imagine the conditions of circus animals in Portugal. When I was in the Azores, there was a circus called Atlas I think and there were horrible, gaudy posters. I just had a sick feeling about the possible treatment of those animals. Being of Azorean heritage, and, therefore, Portuguese, I know personally that animal welfare is not a cultural value.

Anyway, here's a German woman who lives in the Algarve and is appalled at a particular circus' treatment of its animals. The EU apparently wants to "regulate" instead of banning circuses. Are they that much of an economic powerhouse?!
blog stats